Kwara state government debunks story linking the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, with the bailout fund released to the state by the federal government to pay outstanding salaries of its workforce.
By Stephen Olufemi Oni/Ilorin.
The Kwara State Government has dismissed as false and unfounded an online report linking the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, with the salary crises in the state-owned Colleges of Education.
Both the academic and non-teaching staff of the affected institutions are currently on strike over their outstanding six months salaries and emoluments. In a statement issued in Ilorin by Dr. Muyideen Akorede, S.A media to the governor, the state government while dissociating the Senate President from the salary arrears at the affected institutions, reiterated that Saraki neither controls nor interferes with the management of state government funds or institutions, and has therefore challenged anyone with contrary proof to publish it.
While adducing the sharp drop in the monthly federal allocation to the state from N3.2b to N1.8b for its inability to pay subventions to the affected tertiary institutions, government further explained that N1.7b of the amount goes towards the payment of secondary school teachers, civil servants, pensions and gratuity per month, stressing that the remainder is inadequate to cover the N500m monthly subventions to parastatals, including revenue-generating tertiary institutions.
The government, according to Akorede, was therefore forced to suspend the payment of subventions to parastatals while expecting tertiary institutions and other revenue-generating agencies to pay workers from their internally-generated revenue in view of the huge drop in the monthly federal allocation to the state.
On the N4.3b Federal Government bailout to the state, the statement emphasised that the money was used to clear the two months’ arrears owed to state civil servants in August 2015, adding that the Federal Government was yet to release the bailout component for the payment of subvention to the tertiary institutions and other parastatals in the state.
While denying any salary cut at the Colleges of Education by 30 per cent, the statement clarified that the state government was financially-constrained to implement only 70 per cent of the Consolidated Tertiary Education and Institution Salary Structure, a nationally-agreed salary structure for tertiary institutions which is however subject to states’ capacity to pay.
The statement, which added that despite its lean finances, the state government had increased subventions to tertiary institutions in the state thrice in the last four years but was currently unable to ensure regular payment due to the huge drop in the federal government monthly allocation to the state, cautioned the people against playing politics with issues affecting the lives of the citizenry as well as the security of the state, stressing that making false claims that are capable of inciting people and creating crises is not only unpatriotic but also ungodly